Please be sure to select the appropriate Catalog to view your requirements.

Your degree/certificate requirements correspond to the College Catalog for the catalog year you enrolled in the program at the College OR the catalog year that you changed your major. You may find your program’s Catalog year on Student Planning or consult an Academic Advisor for assistance.

Academic Integrity Policy

Academic Integrity Policy

Academic integrity is essential to all educational endeavors and requires that every individual adhere to its basic ethical principles.

All academic work must be wholly the product of the individual or individuals who submit it, except as properly noted; joint efforts are legitimate only when assigned or approved by the instructor. Academic dishonesty can take the form of plagiarism, copyright infringement or cheating.

Plagiarism

To plagiarize is to copy someone else’s writing or ideas and to present them as one’s own. Even if the author’s exact words are not used, it is plagiarism if his or her ideas are used without giving credit. Plagiarism includes:

Copying word-for-word from a source without giving credit to the author. This includes copying all of, or portions of, a paper, book, periodical, CD-ROM, web page, or other material written by another person. Text that is copied must be referenced using a standard citation style. Examples of this type of plagiarism include copying a paper written by another person, or cutting a sentence or paragraph from any source and pasting it into one’s paper.

Paraphrasing without giving credit to the original source for the idea. To paraphrase is to restate a text or passage in another form or in different words. Credit must be given to the author for his or her idea.

Using language that is almost identical to the language of another author. Students should either rewrite the passage in an original style, with attribution given for the idea, or they should use a direct quotation and credit the author.

Copyright Infringement

As defined by the U.S. Copyright Office, as a general matter, copyright infringement occurs when a copyrighted work is reproduced, distributed, performed, publicly displayed, or made into a derivative work without the permission of the copyright owner. Many of the reference materials utlized by students in their research are copyrighted; however in most instances brief excerpts may be utlized with proper citations.

Cheating

To cheat is to give or receive assistance with an assignment, or during an exam, which is not authorized by the instructor. Examples of cheating include, but are not limited to:

Consulting or just possessing unapproved materials during a test

Copying from another student’s exam paper or allowing another student to copy from one’s exam paper

Receiving or providing assistance during an exam through any electronic device

Falsifying data collected for a lab report or other assignment

Collaborating on an assignment without approval

Sabotaging another student’s work

Submitting for a grade an assignment that was completed by another person, or giving an assignment to another student so that he or she can submit it as his or her own work.

Using a stand-in to take an exam or acting as a stand-in to take an exam

Altering a graded assignment to obtain a better grade without the instructor’s permission

Possessing exam questions or other test materials without approval

Forging, altering or misusing a College document

Unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright

Aiding and abetting another in committing an act of academic dishonesty

Penalties

Any violation of the principles of academic integrity is a serious offense. Penalties imposed by the instructor can range from an alternate assignment to failure in the course. The instructor may file code of student conduct charges which may result in a warning, probation, suspension or expulsion from the College.